Entrance for beehives



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK L. NITSCE AND AUGUST MEIER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK L. Nirson and AUGUST MEIER, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga andState of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Entrance forBeehives, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object an entrance for bee hives andparticularly a win ter entrance which is particularly simple inconstruction, economical in manufacture readily applied to the hive andhighly efiicient and durable in use.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in allthe views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my entrance showing the same applied toa hive which is shown fragmentarily.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of this entrance.

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views on lines 4-4, 5-5, Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of this entrance.

This invention comprises generally, a

housing having inner and outer walls orv front and rear walls formedwith openings or slots therethrough, the openings of the inner wallbeing arranged out of alinementwith those of the outer wall and alsocommunicating with the entrance slot of the hive.

1 designates the hive which may be of any suitable form, size andconstruction, it including a box resting upon a suitable base 2 andhaving an entrance slot 3 at the lower edge of one of its sides.

4 designates the winter entrance which is in the form of a housing orbox quadrangular in cross section and having a top wall 5, front andrear walls 6, 7, and end walls 8, the top wall inclining downwardly fromthe rear wall toward the front wall.

Preferably, the entrance openings of this housing are provided in thefront and rear walls 6, 7 and usually the front wall is formed with acentral entrance slot 9 and the rear wall with slots toward the endsthereof, these slots 10 being alined with the end portions of theentrance 3 of the hive.

Preferably, the housing is formed from a blank of sheet metal and thetop consti;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16*, 1921.

Application filed August 27, 1919. Serial No. 320,159.

tutes the body of the blank and the front and rear walls 6, 7 and endwalls 8 are flaps bent downwardly, at an angle to the body.

The entrance 6 of the front wall is formed by slotting said front wallto form a flap 11 which is bent upwardly to form a cover for the slot 9.

In use, the entrance is mounted on the base 2 between the sides of thebase, the end walls 8 being sprung outwardly far enough to engage thesides of the base and frictionally hold the entrance in position.

This entrance is particularly advantageous in that owing to thearrangement of the openings 9, 10 the bees are protected in cold weatherfrom drafts and snow and furthermore this arrangement prevents robbing,or rather makes the defense of the hive by the bees easy against arobber swarm.

Furthermore, the arrangement of the slots 10 at points spaced apartcompels the bees to feed from two different points so that they arealways progressing into their winter feed and hence the (lager ofstarving is small, it being understood that the habit of the bee is tofeed outwardly from the center and that after they have reached thelimit in one direction from the center, they are unable in winter tomove fast enough to the other side of the hive before they die ofstarvation. Hence by the arrangement of the slots 10 at two points thebees will always progress in one direction and will not be compelled toretrace their steps as in hives in which the entrance is centrallylocated.

hat we claim is:

1. An entrance for bee hives comprising a housing in the general form ofa quadrangle in cross section and being folded from a blank to have top,front, rear and end walls, the top wall forming the body and the front,rear and end walls being flaps bent downwardly at an angle to the body,the front and rear walls being formed with passages therethrough,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of a bee hive having an elongated entrance slot atthe bottom thereof, of an entrance comprising a housing extending alongsaid slot and including a top, front and rear and end walls, the frontwall being formed with a central entrance slot and the rear wall beingformed 1 6 t e d th l ts communicating with the slot of the hive, theslots of the front and rear Walls of the entrance being out'ofalinement, substantially as end for the purpose described.

3. An entrance for bee hives comprising a housing in the general form of2t quadrangle in cross sectionfolded from a blank to have a downwardlyineli11ed,top,,2tnd front, rear and end Walls, the inolined top foi'ningabody and the front, rear andend walls being flaps bent downwardlyat an angle to thebody, the front and rear Walls 7 being formed Withopenings therethrough, and the portion of the front Wall displaced toform the opening therein being-'"bent upwardly to form a canopy or coverfor the opening in the front Wall, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof, We have hereunto signed ournames at Syracuse, inthe county of Onondtge, and Stete of New York, this 15th day of August,1919.

FREDERICK L. NITSOH. AUGUST MEIER.

